Dani Pedrosa on pole in Barcelona

Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa secured pole position for Sunday's Catalunya MotoGP race as team-mate and compatriot Marc Marquez crashed out late into the qualifying session in Barcelona.

Until now Marquez had enjoyed a perfect start to the 2014 season, charging into the lead of the riders' championship having converted pole into victory in all of the previous six rounds.

But the Spaniard ran into the gravel late on and Pedrosa, who is just a point behind second-placed Valentino Rossi in the standings, held on to pole having set an unbeatable time of one minute 40.985 seconds.

The home fans would have been delighted to see the Movistar Yamaha of Jorge Lorenzo split the Hondas to complete an all-Spanish front row on the grid.

The LCR Honda of Stefan Bradl looked in good shape as he secured fourth spot ahead of Rossi, who had been languishing further down the timesheets until late on.